Several commercially available adsorbents were screened for their ability to remove Cu, Zn and organotin compounds from both artificial contaminated and real dockyard wastewater. An adsorption - flocculation process using a mixture of two adsorbents (a clay based adsorbent and a powdered activated carbon) was optimized for an optimal adsorbent and pollutant removal. At the optimal conditions the process was evaluated with both artificial and real shipyard wastewater, and the cost of the adsorption-flocculation process with relation to different influent concentrations and discharge limits was estimated. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.